Acrobatic toy



Nov. 11, 24.

F. B. CLARK $15,146

. ACROBATIC TOY Filed Feb. 13, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I I ammambpz I v Fmderic 5. Clark @291 (1113mm I Nov. '11, 1924- 1,515,146 F. B.CLARK I AGROBATIC TOY Filed Feb. 13 19E?) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fi .2 A

F 5 j v amvefilt i FPederic 5 Clark @5 Mathew F. B. CLARK ACROBATIC TOY Nov. 11, 1924 Filed Feb. 13

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 E-Il avwemtoz Frederic D. Clark 9515 Fig.5

' formance of one of its tricks.

Fetentetl Nev. 11, 1924.

UNETEE TATES whilst FREDEBIC B. CLARK, 0F ENGLEVVOOD, NEV JERSEY.

ACRQBATIG TOY.

Application filed February 13, 1922. Serial No. 536,020.

To all who-m it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnornio B. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of'Englewood, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Acrobatic Toys, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to acrobatic toys and especially to that type in which a mannikin is employed to perform various antics.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of simple, adjustable means for causing a mannikin to be hurled through the air, while free from control, in imitation of a human trapeze performer, and for varying the acrobatics which said mannikin accomplishes.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a simple toy figure or mannikin which is adapted to catch, and to release a trapeze or bar, whereby its journey through the air is terminated or begun respectively.

Other objects of this invention will apaear as the description progresses. In the drawings accompanying this specification and illustrating the preferred form of my invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the frame; or gymnastic apparatus on which the mannikin performs. Fig. 2 is a verti-' cal section of a portion of said frame, showing in dotted lines, some of the positions assumed by said mannikin during the per- Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are similar views showing other tricks which may be performed by the mannikin. Fig. 6 is an end view of thespring for holding the mannikin in its initial posi tion. Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 7--7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a front view of the mannikin, showing the pivotal points thereof. Fig. 9 is a front view of one of the sliding clamps. Fig. 10 is a vertical section of the same on line 10-1O of Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of one form of the end of the collapsible or fo1ding members of the frame.

The lowermost horizontal members 20 of the said frame are widened at the ends thereof to form the loops 21 whereby a firm base is provided and the frame prevented from tilting or falling during the operation of the device. At the ends of the frame, the upstanding post members 22 serve to support the uppermost horizontal members 23,0n which trapezes such as 24 and 25 are suitably mounted. The central posts 26 each have a number of holes as 27, 28 and 29 therein in which a suitable pin or cross bar 30 may be detachably inserted for the purpose which will be more fully described hereinafter. 1

For allowing the adjustment of the cross pin 30 longitudinally of the frame, the upper end of each of the uprights 26 is suitably slotted as at 31 while the member 23 is slotted as at 32, a suitable screw or bolt as 33 being arranged to pass through both of said slots 31 and 32 for connecting said member 26 adjustably to said member 23.

At the lower corners of said frame, suitable braces 34 are provided to connect the end posts 22 to the lower member :20, the ends of said braces and of the members 22 and 26 terminating in hooks as 35, (Fig. 11) if desired, whereby the hook members may be readily attached to or detached from a suitable screw bolt or rivet 36. vThe pivoted or permanently secured ends of said foldable members 22, 26 and 34 are each fastened to the member to which it is pivoted by means of a suitable screw bolt or rivet. In that form of the frame in which the hook 35 is omitted, a suitable removable screw bolt is substituted at the ends of said foldable-members, for allowing the removal of said ends when said frame is to be collapsed. It will be readily understood that to fold up or collapse the frame, the hooked ends 35 of the members 22, 24 and '26 are de tached from the bolts or rivets 36, and are folded back 011 the horizontal members 20 and 23 as desired. It will also: be understood thatthe cross bar or pin 30 may be removed from any of the holes in the post 26 into which it may have been inserted and then positioned along the upper member 23 at any desired point thereof, by insertingv said pin 30 through the holes 37 of the movable clamps 38. Said clamps may be secured to said upper member 23 at any desired point thereof by means of the set screws 39, or said clamps may be entirely removed when desired from said member 23 and attached instead to the post 26 whereby the portion 51 of said. hands serving as a pivot about which said hands are hinged to said forearms. The legs 47 of said mannikin are pivoted on the cross bar 52 thereof, to

the'lower end of said body member at) and terminate in the hooks 1-8.

' It-will be noted that not only are the fore arms 44: permitted to. swing about the body 'membenbut' that the hands46 are. adapted to pivot about the said forearms, and that the legs 47 are also adapted to swing about the body member.

, To perform the trick illustrated inFig. 2., themannikin is hooked on to the trapeze 25 by means of the L-shaped hands l6, and is then drawn back in between the halves of the spring 41, whereby the mannikin is held in its initial position. On the release of said mannikin, the swing of the trapeze carries the mannikin to a point where the upper ends of the. hands 46 strike the cross bar 30, whereupon said hands 46 are forcibly released from the trapeze bar and drop back about their pivots 51. The mannikin however, continues its swing until it reaches the position shown by the dotted lines at 53, Fig. 2, in which the lower end of the body 40 strikes the bar-of trapeze 24, whereupon the legs 4 .7 are suddenly jerked upwardly about their pivots 52 and hook themselves about the trapeze bar 24, the mannikin assuming the position shown by the dotted lines at 54, in which the mannikin hangs suspended from the trapeze with its head down.

Due to variations in the swing of the trapeze'25, and in the arrangement of the mannikin thereon, the said mannikinw after striking the bar-'30,, often performs a somersault and a half (not illustrated) before catching on to the second trapeze 24;.

'For the performance of the trick shown. in Fig. 8, a second cross pin 30 is inserted in the holes 37 of the clamp 38, which has been previously adjusted to the proper position by" trial along. the upper member 23, the cross pin 80 being inserted through the proper one of the holes in the post 26 so that the initial swing of the trapeze25 causes the cross bar thereof to strike the pin 30. The sudden shock of the blow causes themannikin to'be thrown upwardly said bar 30 throng sition illustrated by the dotted lines at as,

Fig.

The trick illustrated in Fig. is performed in a somewhat similar manner, excepting that thecross bar 30 is remo d, so that when the trapesebar strikes the cross bar 30., the ll'lfillllllillllS thrown about circular path backwardly toward the position which the trapeze bar assumes on, its backward swi 37 said mannikin passing through the positon shown by the dotted lines at 5'7QFig. The backward movement of the mannikin is interrupted when the body member 43-0 thereof impinges against the cross bar of the trapeze 25, assuming the position indicated at 58 wherein the legs 47 are thrown around the trapeze bar, after which said mannikin drops down to the final position shown at 59.

For the performance of the trick shown at F 5, the auxiliary cross bar 30 is inserted through the holes 27 in the posts 26. The sudden impact of the trapeze 25 against the cross bar 30 throws the mannikin upwardly about the bar 30 as in the trick illustrated in Fig. 4, into the position shown by the dotted lines at 60, Fig. 5, the auxiliary cross bar 30', however, interramting1 the backward movement of the mannikin. so that the legs' l'i hook themselves about saidbar 30, as illustrated.

From the above description of the various tricks performed by the mannikin, it will be apparent that said mannikin moves through space entirely uncontrolled for an appreciable interval of timey'with neither the hands nor the legs thereof in contact with any part of the frame whereby the effect produced on the observer is that one or more somersaults have been turned by the mannikin.

'lhe cross bars 30 and 30 are mad gill-- justaale to various positions a series of holes as 61 are provided in thememher 5? from which the trapeze'25 ay be hung. a n d adjustable clamps 38 also provided r the purpose of enabling the operator to deter mine by himself by experiment the cxavt position of the various parts of the apparatus which. maybe necessary for the performance of any trick. The monotonous repetition of the same trick is thereby avoided, while zest is added to the performance by the attempt of the-operatorto make the trick invariably successful. which willhappen when the correct positions of the adjustable parts are reached, and in addition, the operator of the toy is enabled to discover new tricks by varying the position of the cross bar or mannikin and of the cross bar 30 on which the mannikin may be made to catch. 7

It is obvious that various changes may be made in my improved toy without departing from the spirit of the invention. Illust 'ations of the possible changes include the variation of the frame construction, and of the means on which the mannikin catches hold at the finish of its trick. The means illustrated for this purpose may be made of magnetic material, whereby the successful finish of the trick is assured, when the hands or legs of the mannikin are attracted.

I claim:

1. In a toy of the character described, a trapeze arranged for manual swinging thereof, means for swingably supporting said trapeze, a mannikin, means on said mannikin removably engaging said trapeze and means interposed at a point intermediate of the beginning and end of the normal swing of said mannikin for interrupting the swinging of said trapeze for discharging the mannikin from said trapeze.

2. In an acrobatic toy, a trapeze, a mannikin comprising a body member and swingable hands and legs adapted to engage said trapeze, and means positioned in the path of said trapeze, intermediate of the ends of the normal swing of said trapeze for interrupting the swing thereof and for throwing said mannikin therefrom.

S. In combination with a frame, a trapeze carried by said frame, a bar on said frame, a mannikin, means on said mannikin for removably engaging said trapeze, and means in the path of said trapeze for causing said mannikin to leave said trapeze before the termination of the normal forward swing thereof and for directing said mannikin toward said bar.

a. In combination with a collapsible frame, a swingable trapeze carried by said frame, a cross bar on said frame, a man nikin adapted for suspension from said trapeze comprising a body member and hook hands and legs pivoted to said body member, and a second adjustable cross bar adapted to be positioned in the path of said trapeze intermediate of the ends of the normal swing of said trapeze for causing said mannikin to leave said trapeze and for directing said mannikin toward said first mentioned bar.

5. An acrobatic toy comprising a mannikin, swingable means, means 011 said mannikin whereby said mannikin may be suspended from said swingable means, and an adjustable cross bar adapted to be positioned in the path of said mannikin and said trapeze intermediate of the ends of the normal swing of said trapeze for catapulting said mannikin back through the air.

' 6. In combination with a collapsible frame, a trapeze, a mannikin, swinga ble hook hands and swingable hook legs on said mannikin for removably suspending said mannikin from said trapeze, and means for causing said mannikin to leave said trapeze and to simulate a somersault through the air and for so directing said mannikin that either said hands or said legs engage said frame on the completion of said somersault.

7. An acrobatic toy comprising a collapsible frame, a cross bar carried by said frame, means on said frame for adjusting said cross bar, a trapeze, a mannikin, means on said mannikin whereby said mannikin may be suspended from said trapeze, and a second adjustable cross bar spaced horizontally from said first mentioned cross bar and arranged in the path of said trapeze intermediate of the ends of the normal swing of said trapeze.

8. An acrobatic toy comprising a collapsible frame, a trapeze carried by said frame, a crossbar, means for carrying said cross bar, adjustable longitudinally and vertically of said frame, adapted to be secured at any desired point of said frame, a mannikin adapted to be suspended from said trapeze, swingable hook hands and swingable hook legs on said mannikin, and means in the path of said trapeze intermediate ofthe ends of the normal swing of said trapeze for causing said mannikin to leave said trapeze and for directing said mannikin toward said cross bar.

9. In an acrobatic toy, a frame, a trapeze carried by said frame, a cross bar, means for adjustably carrying said cross bar comprising a pair of apertured slides, and means for detachably securing said slides to a member 'of said frame, a mannikin, hook terminals on said mannikin whereby said mannikin is adapted to be swung by said trapeze, and means for causing said mannikin to leave said trapeze at a predetermined point in the path thereof in advance of the normal end of the swing of said trapeze for causing said mannikin to catch said cross bar.

10. In an acrobatic toy, a frame, a swingable trapeze carried by said frame, a mannikin, terminal members on said mannikin adapted to engage said trapeze, means for obstructing said trapeze intermediate of the ends of the normal swing of said trapeze for causing said members and said mannikin to leave said trapeze, and a spring for holding said mannikin in place at the beginning of its swing.

11. In an acrobatic toy, a frame comprising a vertically slotted and apertured centerpost, a horizontally slotted upper member, a bolt passing through the slots of said centerpost and said horizontalv men'iber, whereby said post is adjustable longitudinally and Vertically ofsaid frame, a-toy figure,.heolrs at the extremities of said figure, means on said upper member for swinging said figure when said hooks engage said last mentioned means, and means attachable to. said centerpost for interrupting the swing of said figure before the completion of said swing.

12. In an aerobatic toy a frame, swing able means removably, attached to the upper portion of said frame, a mannikin, means lo-rholding said mannikin in its initial posi tion at the beginning of the swing of said swingable means in engagement with said swingable means, and means independent of said swingable means -for strikingsaid swingahle means during the swing'thereoi, whereby said mannikin is disengaged from said swingable means and is caused to simulate acrobatic tricks.

13.111 an acrobatic toy, a swii'igahle trapeze, a toy figure, means onsaid figure for removably engaging said trapeze, means for interrupting the swing of said first trapeze for violently separating said figure from said trapeze and causing said figure to hurtle uneontrolledly through the air, and means engageable by the trapeze engaging means of said figure near the end of the air journey 01'? said figure.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of-New York, this 11th day of February, A. D. 1922.

FREDERIC B. CLARK. 

